Seasonal components of freshwater runoff in Glacier Bay, Alaska: diverse spatial patterns and temporal change
A high spatial resolution (250 m), distributed snow evolution and ablation model, SnowModel, is used to estimate current and future scenario freshwater runoff into Glacier Bay, Alaska, a fjord estuary that makes up part of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The watersheds of Glacier Bay contain...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5e7b7b6733954da6a779e235771e0316 2023-05-15T16:20:20+02:00 Seasonal components of freshwater runoff in Glacier Bay, Alaska: diverse spatial patterns and temporal change R. L. Crumley D. F. Hill J. P. Beamer E. R. Holzenthal 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1597-2019 https://doaj.org/article/5e7b7b6733954da6a779e235771e0316 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/1597/2019/tc-13-1597-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-13-1597-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/5e7b7b6733954da6a779e235771e0316 The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 1597-1619 (2019) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1597-2019 2022-12-31T01:34:04Z A high spatial resolution (250 m), distributed snow evolution and ablation model, SnowModel, is used to estimate current and future scenario freshwater runoff into Glacier Bay, Alaska, a fjord estuary that makes up part of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The watersheds of Glacier Bay contain significant glacier cover (tidewater and land-terminating) and strong spatial gradients in topography, land cover, and precipitation. The physical complexity and variability of the region produce a variety of hydrological regimes, including rainfall-, snowmelt-, and ice-melt-dominated responses. The purpose of this study is to characterize the recent historical components of freshwater runoff to Glacier Bay and quantify the potential hydrological changes that accompany the worst-case climate scenario during the final decades of the 21st century. The historical (1979–2015) mean annual runoff into Glacier Bay is found to be 24.5 km 3 yr −1 , or equivalent to a specific runoff of 3.1 m yr −1 , with a peak in July, due to the overall dominance of snowmelt processes that are largely supplemented by ice melt. Future scenarios (2070–2099) of climate and glacier cover are used to estimate changes in the hydrologic response of Glacier Bay. Under the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5, the mean of five climate models produces a mean annual runoff of 27.5 km 3 yr −1 , 3.5 m yr −1 , representing a 13 % increase from historical conditions. When spatially aggregated over the entire bay region, the projection scenario seasonal hydrograph is flatter, with weaker summer flows and higher winter flows. The peak flows shift to late summer and early fall, and rain runoff becomes the dominant overall process. The timing and magnitudes of modeled historical runoff are supported by a freshwater content analysis from a 24-year oceanographic conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) dataset from the U.S. National Park Service's Southeast Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network (SEAN). The hydrographs of individual watersheds display a ... Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier The Cryosphere Tidewater Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Glacier Bay The Cryosphere 13 6 1597 1619 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 R. L. Crumley D. F. Hill J. P. Beamer E. R. Holzenthal Seasonal components of freshwater runoff in Glacier Bay, Alaska: diverse spatial patterns and temporal change |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
A high spatial resolution (250 m), distributed snow evolution and ablation model, SnowModel, is used to estimate current and future scenario freshwater runoff into Glacier Bay, Alaska, a fjord estuary that makes up part of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The watersheds of Glacier Bay contain significant glacier cover (tidewater and land-terminating) and strong spatial gradients in topography, land cover, and precipitation. The physical complexity and variability of the region produce a variety of hydrological regimes, including rainfall-, snowmelt-, and ice-melt-dominated responses. The purpose of this study is to characterize the recent historical components of freshwater runoff to Glacier Bay and quantify the potential hydrological changes that accompany the worst-case climate scenario during the final decades of the 21st century. The historical (1979–2015) mean annual runoff into Glacier Bay is found to be 24.5 km 3 yr −1 , or equivalent to a specific runoff of 3.1 m yr −1 , with a peak in July, due to the overall dominance of snowmelt processes that are largely supplemented by ice melt. Future scenarios (2070–2099) of climate and glacier cover are used to estimate changes in the hydrologic response of Glacier Bay. Under the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5, the mean of five climate models produces a mean annual runoff of 27.5 km 3 yr −1 , 3.5 m yr −1 , representing a 13 % increase from historical conditions. When spatially aggregated over the entire bay region, the projection scenario seasonal hydrograph is flatter, with weaker summer flows and higher winter flows. The peak flows shift to late summer and early fall, and rain runoff becomes the dominant overall process. The timing and magnitudes of modeled historical runoff are supported by a freshwater content analysis from a 24-year oceanographic conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) dataset from the U.S. National Park Service's Southeast Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network (SEAN). The hydrographs of individual watersheds display a ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
R. L. Crumley D. F. Hill J. P. Beamer E. R. Holzenthal |
author_facet |
R. L. Crumley D. F. Hill J. P. Beamer E. R. Holzenthal |
author_sort |
R. L. Crumley |
title |
Seasonal components of freshwater runoff in Glacier Bay, Alaska: diverse spatial patterns and temporal change |
title_short |
Seasonal components of freshwater runoff in Glacier Bay, Alaska: diverse spatial patterns and temporal change |
title_full |
Seasonal components of freshwater runoff in Glacier Bay, Alaska: diverse spatial patterns and temporal change |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal components of freshwater runoff in Glacier Bay, Alaska: diverse spatial patterns and temporal change |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal components of freshwater runoff in Glacier Bay, Alaska: diverse spatial patterns and temporal change |
title_sort |
seasonal components of freshwater runoff in glacier bay, alaska: diverse spatial patterns and temporal change |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1597-2019 https://doaj.org/article/5e7b7b6733954da6a779e235771e0316 |
geographic |
Glacier Bay |
geographic_facet |
Glacier Bay |
genre |
glacier The Cryosphere Tidewater Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier The Cryosphere Tidewater Alaska |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 1597-1619 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/1597/2019/tc-13-1597-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-13-1597-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/5e7b7b6733954da6a779e235771e0316 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1597-2019 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1597 |
op_container_end_page |
1619 |
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1766008250743914496 |